The
clock is ticking for true patriots — the backbone of our society
— to bring the nation to its feet. In precisely eight months from
this writing, on November 8, 2011, the noise from contenders for Executive,
Legislative and gubernatorial offices will be ratcheted up, amplified
and embellished by throngs of professional “handlers” (a.k.a.
political consultants). They will vie for the hearts and minds of voters
by exploiting the clueless, misdirecting the poorly educated, and stroking
the egos of the intelligentsia in order to give their candidate the edge
on Election Day — just one year away, on November 8, 2012.

Meanwhile,
in the back rooms of Capitol Hill — which include the golf courses
of posh country clubs and charity galas — who’s actually a
contender and whose candidacy is to be a sideshow is already being thrashed
out. Even the topics of discussion, along with the various angles on the
issues, are being decided as you read this. So, if you, the reader of
this column, are a member of a citizen-patriot group that harbors views
not aligned with those already selected by pricey political advisors for
their agreed-upon front-runners and lapdog TV commentators, you have a
problem.

As a
mere citizen, the most you can hope for is a letter-to-the-editor, or
maybe a blog that nobody important will read. A missive to your congressional
representative or government agency head will get you a boilerplate response
from a low-level staffer, thanking you for writing, with a brief allusion
to the issue in question buried somewhere in the first paragraph to personalize
the reply.

I ought
to know; I created and categorized dozens of such letters in the course
of my duties as an employee and contract employee to various federal agencies.

All
U.S. Presidents, past and present, the congressional offices and bureaus
or offices within every federal and state agency, as well as heads of
major TV networks and newspapers employ individuals to “run interference”
for their boss — which means “taking care of” your letter,
unless you are connected with a household-name, big-donor organization.
The “unconnected” get shut out.

So here
we good patriots sit, with eight months to go before the promises, predictions,
polls and pundits start making the usual mockery of the democratic process.
By the time Election Day rolls around, the public will be ready to elect
Osama bin Laden, if only to be done with it.

Yet,
American patriots like you not only exist, but likely still comprise a
majority, despite appearances to the contrary. In retrospect, we should
have made our move back in 1970, as the handwriting was already on the
wall. But few believed the madness would last — to where it is a
“hate crime” simply to speak one’s conscience.

Now
we are faced with the unpleasant prospect of having to completely alter
the psychological landscape and mobilize the nation. If we
expect to reclaim the country in 2012, we must take the reigns of debate
away from our antagonists, do the unexpected instead of the predictable,
and turn the techniques of our adversaries against them.

What kind of mentality are we up against? Take, for example, PBS’
highly acclaimed Nightly Business Report — arguably among the most
unbiased, credible programs available to the public on financial and economic
matters, featuring experts as far apart philosophically as the Heritage
Foundation, the University of Chicago and Brookings Institute.

Even
so, night after night we hear that inflation is running at a mere 2 or
3 percent, that interest rates are low, that rising gas prices and turmoil
in the Middle East are not having the expected dampening effect on the
American stock market and economy. Despite some rise in unemployment,
the news is generally upbeat on “growing” your portfolio.
For every downturn, there appears to be an uptick a few weeks later, giving
the impression that everything is relative, nothing is too serious or
lasts all that long. Subconsciously, viewers conclude that the U.S. Treasury
can continue printing money endlessly and the nation’s leaders can
keep running up the debt.

But
then the hapless viewer considers his purchases — most of them not
discretionary. He wonders what planet these economists are living on that
has only 2 to 3 percent inflation. What are they buying? The only things
that appear to have gone down are electronics, which demand replacement
every two years or so because they are no longer compatible with anything.
So, as our viewer replaces his chunky-chassis TV set for a streamlined,
high-def, flat-screen, he knows his precious set will eventually need
to be Internet-compatible, that the video-recorder that comes with his
set will soon be outdated and similarly incompatible. Ditto his laptop,
his high-efficiency heating/air-conditioning system and his cell phone.
He won’t be able to get parts; repairmen will be helpless to fix
them.

Thus,
inflation is no longer a reflection of our viewer’s own purchases.
Rather inflation reflects a government rate based on a basket of goods
and services that economists track on a periodic basis.

They
use a mathematical algorithm to figure a cost-adjustment of these items
and, from that, determine a composite cost-of-living increase, or inflation.

If this
sounds like gobbledygook to you, you’re not alone.

Suppose
you work two jobs to send little Johnny to a private school, even though
you are already subsidizing the failed government school system. The fact
that a $600-per-year private school in 1961 is now $2,200 per year in
2011 — a roughly 3500% increase that is out of sync with median
salary increases over the same period — is not deemed “inflation.”
K-12 private school tuitions are not even included in the basket
of goods and services that goes into the government’s calculations.
Yet without a private education, your child will likely be at a disadvantage
in the emerging job market, as even experts within the Education Department
admit that “advanced” course work in U.S. lingo is laughable
on the international scale. In fact, your child’s prospects may
well determine your own fate once you reach old age.

Thus,
when we talk about changing minds and hearts, we are not just talking
about social issues, morality or even fiscal responsibility. We are talking
about a combination of the American Dream, quality of life and standard
of living — which spans the gamut of legislative mayhem at all levels,
finally trickling down to the county and local community as “economic
incentives” and “unfunded mandates.”

No wonder
so many Americans fail to grasp the true gravity of the country’s
situation. At the end of a lousy workday, impossible commutes, children’s
problems, and fitting in errands to accommodate nightmarish, government-imposed
busywork, most people want to kick back, order in a pizza and watch the
Tube. Some go to clubs and singles bars. Still others work out, read or
just sleep.

But
the one thing hardly anyone wants to do is think.
Thus are we fighting a combination of raw ignorance, physical and emotional
exhaustion, and a disinclination to reflect, contemplate or deliberate.
The populace cries out for leadership, even as it shuns yet another “crisis.”

The
Left is pulling out all the stops because that it believes it “owns”
the psychological environment. Universal health care, fiscal insanity,
omnipresent surveillance, nation-building schemes disguised as “wars,”
chaotic classrooms, “climate-change” shenanigans, massive
tax increases and transfers of wealth, a criminal justice system that
hassles good citizens instead of putting real criminals away…and
always the threat, never far from the surface, that another 9/11 or, heaven
forbid, a nuclear attack in some major city, can finish off any semblance
of the America we knew and lay the foundation for a police state. Thus,
the recent concessions to Sharia Law in several states — alongside
the marginalization of Christianity nationwide. This is a sure recipe
for upheaval in a country founded not only upon Christian ideals, but
upon an individualistic perspective as opposed to a collective mindset.

Eight
months is all we have to impart a sense of urgency about Election Day
2012. This means establishing a list of priorities — above and beyond
taxes and limited government. To wrench the psychological advantage away
from the Left means we have to “own” the topics of discussion
and alter the substance of debates. It is up to our side to define
what we are going to talk about and for how long. That is the
essence of “psychological environment,” but conservatives
have not learned it.

What
topics, then, should we address? Under what categories do we place them?
I would submit that the umbrella issues are (1) a high quality of life
and (2) an upwardly mobile standard of living — the kind of lives
our parents and grandparents understood as uniquely American. For these,
the world clamored to our shores instead of escaping them for fairer fields
elsewhere. Today, that view is changing, save for parasites demanding
a handout.

The
tax structure and limited government, of course, remain key, but the slogans
have become tired and, in any case, are inadequate in a nation where some
95 percent of children now leave school conditioned to accept a Nanny
State and numb to intellectual stimulation. Many are not even motivated
to leave the nest.

In such
a psychological climate, it will be difficult to convince the under-45
crowd that they are not well-served by either of the major political parties.
They hear that the Constitution has outlived its usefulness, whereas it
is party politics and political “machines” that are outdated.

We have
eight months to challenge a lethargic population to suddenly throw down
the gauntlet, as in:

•
How much more of our wealth shall we expend to shore up failed nations
and corrupt regimes, out of some dim hope that their leaders will “be
nice to us”?• How many more lives do we wish to expend on nation-building
and humanitarian projects while our own infrastructure falls apart?• How long will we be kept hostage to OPEC and
the Middle East for our energy needs when there is quite enough oil and
gas at home to us until we brainstorm our way to a viable, cost-effective
alternative?• How much more government interference and “gotcha”-style
justice are we going to put up with?• How many convicted thugs are we going to allow
back on our streets?• How many lifelong convicts are we willing to
house, feed, entertain, educate and provide medical services for without
any expectation of restitution?• How many freebies and entitlement programs are
taxpayers willing to support, when there are religious and charitable
organizations willing to do the job?• How long are we going to allow fraudulent science
to dictate legislation, robbing us of our earnings and livelihoods?• How long will we suffer a War on Drugs that is
not working, but harasses honest citizens who are ill?• When will we demand a return to a policy in which
prospective immigrants to this country have a waiting job and law-abiding
sponsors?• How long do we intend to suffer teacher unions
that turn children against their parents and serve as tax-exempt, political
fronts?

These
represent but a sampling of the critical questions Americans need to be
clear on if we are to select worthy candidates who will get the nation
back on track. Notice that the questions above are not worded to evoke
a simple “yes” or “no”; specifics are the order
of the day, along with outside-the-box strategizing and innovation.

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If we
fail to reclaim the psychological advantage; if we continue to fight turf
battles and funding competitions instead of putting people on the same
page; if we squander this eight-month window of opportunity — then
another socialist, possibly worse Barack Obama, will land in the White
House, with members of Congress and agency bureaucrats all scurrying to
hold on to their status and position.

Beverly
K. Eakman began her career as a teacher in 1968. She left to become a
scientific writer for a NASA contractor. She went on to serve as a former
speechwriter for the Voice of America and for the late Chief Justice Warren
E. Burger when he chaired the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S.
Constitution. She was an editor and writer for the U.S. Dept. of Justice
before retiring from federal government. She is now author of six books
covering education policy, mental-health issues, data-trafficking and
political strategy with dozens of keynote speeches, feature articles and
op-eds to her credit. Her most recent works include A Common Sense Platform
for the 21st Century and the 2011 Edition of her ever-popular seminar
manual, How To Counter Group Manipulation Tactics (Midnight Whistler Publishers,
2010 and 2011, respectively).